"Oh my God, I am so full!" It's a refrain that will be heard countless times around the country today as we sit around tables with friends and family. Sure, Thanksgiving is about being grateful, and it's about the harvest, and the history of our nation. But really, it's about the food. (Even Google's doodles are just pictures of victuals with links to Ina Garten recipes this year!) In American culture--as in so many others--it's natural and normal to celebrate with edibles. Food is homey, comforting, delicious, and fun. Unless you're one of the estimated 10 million Americans fighting an eating disorder, that is. Then food, and this whole holiday, can be scary, disturbing, and painful.
"We start prepping people [we treat for eating disorders] for Thanksgiving about a month ahead of time," says Cynthia M. Bulik, Ph.D., director of the University of North Carolina Eating Disorders Program and author of Crave: Why You Binge Eat and How to Stop. "Being around so much food is like someone with acrophobia leaning off the Empire State Building. It is being surrounded by your biggest fear for an entire day. For someone with anorexia it's the fear of being expected to eat and enjoy it. For someone with bulimia or binge eating disorder it is being able to control urges to binge or purge when you're completely surrounded by trigggers."
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